INNOVATING EVERYWHERE

Every day, New York Public Radio is innovating to deliver the best in public radio to audiences everywhere at any time – over the radio and on desktops, tablets and mobile devices. With the generous support of The Jerome L. Greene Foundation’s $8 million grant for digital innovation (awarded in Fiscal Year 2014), New York Public Radio is redefining what public radio is in the 21st century.

In the fall of 2014, NYPR’s digital team successfully designed, developed and released an all-new mobile app for WQXR. The app features the live streams of WQXR, Q2 Music, Operavore and The Jonathan Channel; show playlists; an alarm clock that lets you wake up to the stream of your choice; a program schedule; a link to WQXR’s YouTube channel; and a pledge form. In November 2014, in tandem with WQXR’s month-long Bach celebration, users were able to download daily tracks of great Bach performances.

WNYC’s Discover app feature, which serves up personalized playlists of segments and episodes culled from more than 100 public radio shows, was a finalist for a Webby Award in Fiscal Year 2015. The Knight Foundation also granted WNYC $250,000 to further the development of Discover and share the technology with others in public radio. Oregon Public Broadcasting and WBUR in Boston are now on track to adapt the feature. Through the year, a number of improvements were made to WNYC.org (which also won the New York State AP Award for Best Website) to fully optimize it for mobile devices. Mobile app sessions were up 39% in Fiscal Year 2015, and total listening hours on mobile devices increased 40% for WNYC and 56% for WQXR.

In May, New York Public Radio launched a new partnership with Spotify, one of the largest audio streaming platforms, rolling out a new feature that showcases on-demand talk content. Shows handpicked for this new curated service include a limited set of episodes of Radiolab; Freakonomics Radio; Death, Sex & Money; Note to Self; On the Media; and The Sporkful.

New York Public Radio’s Digital Task Force provides support and guidance on the organization’s digital strategy and brings together leaders in technology and media. Task Force Members: